Hanger attachment rod

ABSTRACT

The invention provides a hanger bar, for use with a garment hanger frame having an elongated base and end portions upstanding from said elongated base, which comprises: I. A HANGER ROD INCLUDING TWO PORTIONS WHICH ARE MOVABLE RELATIVELY LONGITUDINALLY TO PERMIT VARIATION OF THE LENGTH OF THE HANGER ROD, EACH SUCH PORTION INCLUDING AT A FREE END THEREOF A CHANNEL TO RECEIVE A RESPECTIVE ONE OF SAID UPSTANDING END PORTIONS OF SAID HANGER FRAME BASE, AND II. RESILIENT MEANS ENGAGED WITH SAID TWO ROD PORTIONS AND ACTING THEREON IN THE DIRECTION TO TEND TO LENGTHEN THE ROD.

United States Patent 1 91 Wheeler 1451 Sept. 25, 1973 1 1 HANGER ATTACHMENT ROD [76] Inventor: Raymond R. Wheeler, 514 Elk Dr.,

Riverton, Wyo. 82501 22 Filed: Nov. 26, 1971 21 Appl. No.: 202,404

[52] US. Cl 223/85, 223/89, 223/95, 211/113, 211/123 51 Int.Cl. ..A47j5l/l0 [58] Field of Search 223/88, 85, 89, 90, 223/91, 87, 95, 96; 211/124, 105.1, 105.4, 6, 113, 7, 123

[56] References Cited UNlTED STATES PATENTS 3,409,191 11/1968 Fuss 223/91 2,635,794 4/1953 Lisko 223/88 2,099,596 11/1937 Bruening.....

2,940,650 6/1960 Hirata 223/96 839,879 1/1907 O'Connell 223/95 2,268,265 12/1941 Ruen 223/88 10/1947 Therrien 223/88 4/1939 Yankovitch 223/88 Primary Examiner-George H. Krizmanich Attorney-William Anthony Drucker [5 7] ABSTRACT The invention provides a hanger bar, for use with a garment hanger frame having an elongated base and end portions upstanding from said elongated base, which comprises:

i, a hanger rod including two portions which are movable relatively longitudinally to permit variation of the length of the hanger rod, each such portion including at a free end thereof a channel to receive a respective one of said upstanding end portions of said hanger frame base, and

ii. resilient means engaged with said two rod portions and acting thereon in the direction to tend .to lengthen the rod.

3 Claims, 9 Drawing Figures PATENTEDSEPZSIBH SHEU 2 [IF 3 PATENTED SEPZ S1975 SHEU 3 OF 3 HANGER ATTACHMENT ROD This invention relates to garment hangers, and in particular but not limitatively to the conventional substantially triangular stiff wire garment hanger having a hook at its apex. I

The object of the invention is to provide a garment hanger bar which may be used, in association with a hanger frame or with a support frame, for the hanging of garments such as articles of clothing and neckties.

According to the present invention a hanger bar, for use with a garment hanger frame having an elongated base and end portions upstanding from said elongated base, comprises a hanger rod including two portions which are movable relatively longitudinally to permit variation of the length of the hanger rod, each such portion including at a free end thereof a channel to receive a respective one of said upstanding end portions of said hanger frame base, and resilient means engaged with said two rod portions and acting thereon in the direction to tend to lengthen the rod.

In a preferred embodiment, one said rod portion is a tubular sleeve which is slidable on the other said rod portion and includes an endpiece in which said channel is formed, said resilient means being a compression spring disposed within said sleeve and abutting at one end against said other rod portions and at its other end against said endpiece.

For receiving a loop element, to bear against the garment or to act as a support for a garment, the free end of each hanger rod portion may be recessed in a plane at an angle to the plane of said channel therein, said recessing being deeper than said channel. The loop element is extensible, so as to accommodate variations in the length of the hanger rod. In a first form, the loop element is a resilient extensible ligament, such as a rubber band. In a second form, the loop element is a stiff wire loop comprising first and second U-shaped portions movable longitudinally one with respect to the other, each U-shaped portion being engaged in a respective end recess of the rod. There may additionally be provided a plurality of spacers having a first aperture to receive the rod slidably therein, a pair of second I apertures receiving the legs of said U-shaped portions slidably therein, and an edge recess to receive said elongated base of the hanger frame.

Where the upstanding end portions of the hanger frame are of suitable length, a plurality of the hanger bars may be disposed in vertically stacked formation and engaged at their ends with said upstanding end portions.

In order that the nature of the invention may be readily ascertained, some embodiments in accordance therewith are hereinafter particularly described with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is an elevation of a conventional wire clothes hanger with-a first embodiment of hanger bar mounted thereon;

FIG. 2 is an elevation of part of the hanger and bar of FIG. 1, to a larger scale, to show details of the end of the bar;

FIG. 3 is an end elevation, corresponding to FIG. 2, to show the manner of hanging an article of clothing on the bar; 7

FIG. 4 is an elevation of part of a modified hanger with a plurality of hanger bars stacked thereon;

FIG. 5 is an elevation of part of a conventional wire clothes hanger with a second embodiment of hanger bar mounted thereon;

FIG. 6 is a plan view of the hanger bar of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is an end elevation corresponding to FIG. 5;

FIG. 8 is an elevation of a spacer disc forming part of the embodiment of FIGS. 5 to 7;

FIG. 9 is an elevation of a wall bracket on which a hanger bar is accordance with the secondembodiment is mounted.

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 3, a conventional wire clothes hanger consists of an approximately triangular portion 1, with substantially vertical end portions 2, 3 and a horizontal base 4, and a hook 5.

A hanger bar, for mounting on the hanger, comprises a rod 6 which is provided at one end with a vertically disposed channel 7 to receive the end portion 2. At its other end, the rod 6 engages into a tubular sleeve 8 which is freely slidable thereon under the influence of a compression spring 9 abutting at one end against the adjacent end of the rod 6, and at the other end against a plug 10 inserted as a fixture in the end of the sleeve 8. Movement of the sleeve 8 along the rod 6 is limited in both directions by a screw 11 secured in the rod 6 and forming a clearance fit within a slot 12 in the sleeve 8. The outer end of the plug 10 has a vertically disposed channel 13 in which the end portion 3 of the hanger is engaged. I

It will be seen that the hanger bar can be engaged onto a hanger by inserting the rod 6 into the frame of the hanger such that the end portion 3 is received in the channel 13, whereafter the rod 6 is pushed to compress the spring 9 sufficiently to permit the other end of the rod 6 to be brought within the frame to align the channel 7 with the other end portion 2, whereafter the force is removed and the spring 9 allowed to expand to push the rod 6 into engagement, by its channel 7, with the end portion 2. The hanger bar can be removed from the hanger frame by a reversal of the above-described steps. It will be appreciated also that the movement of the sleeve 8 under its spring-loading permits the engagement of the hanger bar with hanger frames of different widths, i.e. havingend portions 2 and 3 of different spacings, within limits.

, As so far described, the hanger bar can be used in the following manner: the bar, separated from the hanger frame, is threaded through the garment to be hung, e.g. into the fold of a folded pair of trousers. The bar is then engaged into the hanger frame in accordance with the stepsdescribed above, whereupon the garment hangs down from the bar with both hanging portions of the gannent at the same side of the base 4 of the frame, and with one hanging portion trapped between the rod 6 and the base 4 of the frame, as will be best seen in FIG. 3. The weight of the hanger bar plus the garment thereon urges the bar towards the base 4, and thus serves to grip the portion of the garment engaged between the two.

For securing a garment onto the bar prior to engagement of the bar into the hanger frame, and for greater security of fastening of the garment to the bar when the latter is in the hanger frame, the rod 6 is also provided with a recess 14 which is deeper than the channel 7 and which extends in a plane at right angles to the plane of channel 7. Similarly, the plug 10 is provided with a somewhat deeper recess 15 which extends in a plane at right angles to the channel 13.

A resilient extensible loop element 16, such as a rubber band, is engaged into the two recesses 14 and .15 and lies closely along the rod 6. In use, the loop element 16 would be removed whilst the garment was being placed on the rod 6, and would engage in place so as to lie against the garment and retain it firmly in compression against the rod 6. The loop element 6 accordingly provides further frictional engagement of the garment with the rod 6, to prevent the garment slipping about the rod.

Referring to FIG. 4, a plurality of the hanger bars of the kind described are all engaged with a vertically elongated end portion 17 of a modified hanger frame manufactured for the purpose.

Referring to FIGS. 5 to 8, there is shown a second embodiment of hanger bar. This comprises a rod 6 with a vertical end channel 7 and a horizontal end recess 14 at one end, and the same arrangement of items referenced 8 to 13 at the other end (not shown). In substitution for the rubber band looped element 16 of FIGS. 1 to 4, there is used a stiff metal wire looped element 18 which has end portions 19, 20 which seat respectively into the end recesses 14 and 15 of the rod. In order to permit endwise movement of the plug of the rod 6, the wire loop 18 must also be extensible and, for this purpose, it is made in two U-shaped portions 180 and 18b which have their legs engaged slidably into sleeves 21. To preserve proper spacing of the looped element 18 from the rod 6, and to prevent rotation, there are provided a plurality of spacers washers 22 each having a central hole 23 which is an easy sliding fit on the rod 6. The washer also has lateral holes 24 which are an easy sliding fit on the portions 18a, 18b of the wire loop. Further, the washer has a base edge recess 25 into which the base portion 4 of the hanger frame can engage. With the spacing washers 22 at a suitable distance apart, the hanger bar can be used to receive a garment about it, and can then be engaged into a hanger frame in similar manner to that described above. Altematively, or in addition, the portions 18a, 18b of the wire loop can be used as hangers for ties and other smaller articles of clothing, and the spacer washers 22 may if desired be used to act as partitions separating one portion of the hanger from another.

Referring now to FIG. 9 there is shown a bracket which includes a fixture wire 26 for securing to an upright, such as a wall or a piece of furniture, as by means of screws for example. On the fixture wire there is engaged a hanger frame 27 which can pivot through 180 in the horizontal plane. The support frame includes a horizontal base wire 28 and a vertical end portion 29. A hanger bar 30, of the nature described above in detail in relation to FIGS. 5 to 8, is engaged by its ends with the wire 26 and the end portion 29, and by its spacing washers 22 with the base wire 28. The operations of hanging clothes, and engaging and removing the hanger bar from the frame 27, are precisely as described above.

The device of the present invention can be used with the conventional wire hanger for safe and multiple hanging of trousers, skirts and other items of apparel. It is relatively inexpensive to produce and therefore to purchase. It makes it possible to attach garments to a hanger more easily, and in many cases more wrinklefree, because the hanger bar can be inserted through a garment without having to thread the garment through the opening of the conventional hanger. A hanger may be manufactured with its end portions as long as desired to accommodate a larger number of such hanger bars in a vertical stack. Each hanger bar of the stack can be removed by shortening it endwise, and the other bars then slip down into place. The hanger bars are of simple rod-like form and are readily packed for transportation, or in luggage, and stored. The embodiment of FIGS. 6 to 8, and FIG. 9, may provide safe convenient hanging facility for neckties, belts, scarves, hosiery etc. in a closet or during travel.

At the present time, increasing use is being made by travellers of the plastic bag type of hanging travel case. These garment bags provide good protection for suits, trousers, etc., without the usual wrinklng found with hard-type suit cases. However, there is a problem that if the user hangs several suits or pairs of trousers he then has a handfull of hanger hooks to grasp, because that is all that projects above the garment bag. The hanger bar, used in combination with a modified frame as shown in FIG. 4, would provide accommodation for, say, six or seven pairs of trousers, suits etc., with only a singlehanger to be held in the hand.

I claim:

1. In combination (i) a hanger bar comprising a hanger rod including portions which are movable longitudinally to permit variation of the length of the hanger rod, said hanger rod including at each end thereof a channel to receive an upstanding end portion of a hanger frame base, said hanger rod further including at each end thereof a recess in a plane at an angle to the plane of said channel therein and said recess being deeper than said channel, and a resilient means engaged with said rod portions and acting thereon in the direction to tend to lengthen said rod; and (ii) a stiff loop element comprising first and second relatively movable U-shaped portions, each said U-shaped portion being engaged in a respective end recess of said rod.

2. The combination of claim 1 and spacer means engaged with said hanger rod and said loop element so as to retain said loop element spaced from said hanger rod.

3. The combination of claim 2, wherein said spacer means comprises a plurality of spacer washers disposed in spaced relationship along said hanger rod, each said washer having a first aperture receiving said hanger rod slidably therein, a pair of second apertures receiving legs of said U-shaped portions slidably therein, and an edge recess to receive said elongated base of said hanger frame. 

1. In combination (i) a hanger bar comprising a hanger rod including portions which are movable longitudinally to permit variation of the length of the hanger rod, said hanger rod including at each end thereof a channel to receive an upstanding end portion of a hanger frame base, said hanger rod further including at each end thereof a recess in a plane at an angle to the plane of said channel therein and said recess being deeper than said channel, and a resilient means engaged with said rod portions and acting thereon in the direction to tend to lengthen said rod; and (ii) a stiff loop element comprising first and second relatively movable U-shaped portions, each said U-shaped portion being engaged in a respective end recess of said rod.
 2. The combination of claim 1 and spacer means engaged with said hanger rod and said loop element so as to retain said loop element spaced from said hanger rod.
 3. The combination of claim 2, wherein said spacer means comprises a plurality of spacer washers disposed in spaced relationship along said hanger rod, each said washer having a first aperture receiving said hanger rod slidably therein, a pair of second apertures receiving legs of said U-shaped portions slidably therein, and an edge recess to receive said elongated base of said hanger frame. 